for the first time, i am not pulling my hair out screaming to go back to school. i am actually kind of dreading it. don't get me wrong, i can't wait to be living in my own apartment again, to be in the same city as most of my nearest and dearest, to be able to stay out past midnight and be able to go out drinking because i don't have to drive everywhere.
however, there is a twinge of sadness that the summer is coming to a close, that a great internship has ended, that i have a physics exam the first day of classes, that i will again be stressed and sleeping an average of 4.5 hours a night, that i have to really start applying to jobs, that i have to figure out and complete my senior design project, that i won't have 15 hours a week of dance practice to keep me sane (though with how things went last semester, that may be a good thing). this will also be the first time theodore isn't around, seeing as how we met pretty early on my freshman year.
but! i'll make it through it, as always. and of course, i first spend a few days in chicago. (=
29 August 2007
25 August 2007
fin.
yesterday was the last day of my internship. we had a little cross-site farewell party in the pe pod, which was interesting. as a parting gift, i got a brown dragon shirt!! i loooooove it. i don't know who let it slip that i really wanted one, but thank goodness. i nearly cried. i spent most of the day sitting in various ppls offices saying my goodbyes. later on at around 5, the bee movie tds provided me with good ol' captain+coke and beers in one of their offices as we sat around and chatted. it was a great end to an amazing thirteen weeks. words can't describe how grateful i am for this experience.. so i'm really bummed out now, but i have to really focus on that upcoming physics exam anyway, so hopefully that will keep my mind off of it.
08 August 2007
siggraph2007.
after work on monday, i grabbed a train down to san diego and met up with mike and zai. we went to a milonga in the city. it's amazing how different the tango styles are from place to place. we spent the night at zai's in carlsbad.
in the morning we had breakfast at zanzibar in pacific beach. i was bummed because i hate going to pb without eating at cafe976, but i was too lazy to walk the 2 blocks there. haha. then we went to siggraph at the san diego convention center where i proceeded to 'drop my resume' and collect business cards and swag from the various booths. after every booth i stopped at, i had mike telling me what i did wrong (as usual). it was good though - by the end i was able to better reign in my nerves and sound relatively coherent and intelligent. (=
at dinner we ran into bjoern, a dmd alumnus who was in the program back when mike was at penn. at the penn party we then ran into ray (dmd alumnus currently at curious pictures) who mike had recruited to dmd, and had then been one of the ppl who recruited me to the program. paul (dmd alumnus currently at pixar) who was a senior when i was a freshman was also there. current dmders included matt (senior interning at pixar) and nancy (junior interning at disney animation). sadly, none of the vanguard animation interns could make it down. )= and of course, my advisors and other key people in the cggt/dmd program were there.
we then made our way over to the dreamworks party at the stingaree rooftop. it was so much fun, and quite interesting to see people i've been working with all summer letting loose, drinking and having a good time. mike left early to return to la, and i was supposed to go with, but we'd been at the party for less than an hour so i decided to stay and just crash with whatever dreamworks employee was nice enough to let me.
woke up with a decent hangover, and managed to make it back to arcadia finally at around 6. funnnn times.
in the morning we had breakfast at zanzibar in pacific beach. i was bummed because i hate going to pb without eating at cafe976, but i was too lazy to walk the 2 blocks there. haha. then we went to siggraph at the san diego convention center where i proceeded to 'drop my resume' and collect business cards and swag from the various booths. after every booth i stopped at, i had mike telling me what i did wrong (as usual). it was good though - by the end i was able to better reign in my nerves and sound relatively coherent and intelligent. (=
at dinner we ran into bjoern, a dmd alumnus who was in the program back when mike was at penn. at the penn party we then ran into ray (dmd alumnus currently at curious pictures) who mike had recruited to dmd, and had then been one of the ppl who recruited me to the program. paul (dmd alumnus currently at pixar) who was a senior when i was a freshman was also there. current dmders included matt (senior interning at pixar) and nancy (junior interning at disney animation). sadly, none of the vanguard animation interns could make it down. )= and of course, my advisors and other key people in the cggt/dmd program were there.
we then made our way over to the dreamworks party at the stingaree rooftop. it was so much fun, and quite interesting to see people i've been working with all summer letting loose, drinking and having a good time. mike left early to return to la, and i was supposed to go with, but we'd been at the party for less than an hour so i decided to stay and just crash with whatever dreamworks employee was nice enough to let me.
woke up with a decent hangover, and managed to make it back to arcadia finally at around 6. funnnn times.
06 August 2007
a fantastic weekend.
friday night after work, i headed over to a duna csardas (sp?) with mike for tamas' birthday dinner. it was a group of about ten of us from tango. then we went to the groundlings to watch an improv show. it was a good time, low-key, no big deal. just the way i like it.
saturday morning i went to the edge to take a hip hop class. my first in a year! it's surprising how out of shape i am, but it was a great work out and a fun little routine (wipe me down!). met up with tannis afterwards for lunch at toast. while we were waiting for a table, there's this guy standing around that looks really familiar, and the instant i whisper to tannis that i think he goes to penn, he walks to us and asks "is one of you in strictly funk?" WHOA! pretty sweet. turns out i recognize him from all my comm classes. then when we finally get a table, we walk into the cafe and sitting there at a table by the door are anthony, dan and quoc, all funk alumni who are currently living in san francisco. tannis and i were very taken aback and in a state of shock through the rest of our lunch. who knew so many penn people would be at toast at the same time. after an afternoon of catching up with tannis, i went to a tango technique class in west LA.. i had no idea that a simple walk could be so technical and intricate. tannis and i made dinner at her place in marina del rey. it was so nice to be back since i lived there all last summer. post-meal i went to a house party with her and a bunch of her high school friends in beverly hills. not only did i not know anyone, but it was a pool party (and i was sans bathing suit) so i got to sit awkwardly at the edge of the pool for the whole of it. it wasn't bad though - it just wasn't great either.
sunday morning, tannis made me breakfast ;) and then we went to a salon where i got a manicure. the old white man before me tipped the asian lady big (i didn't see how much, but there was more than one bill, and that bill was a $20), so i'm thinking someone got a some happy happy in the back room. (= maybe i'm just sick-minded. my afternoon was spent at zuma beach with my favorite interns from dwa (steph, andy, felipe, allison, jade). i definitely got a little sun-burnt, but it's good. i haven't had this much color in over 2 years. i headed to the santa monica promenade around six and spent the next four hours tango'ing at the weekly milonga there. my body is sore (like whoa) from all the dancing i did this week. it's fantastic.
saturday morning i went to the edge to take a hip hop class. my first in a year! it's surprising how out of shape i am, but it was a great work out and a fun little routine (wipe me down!). met up with tannis afterwards for lunch at toast. while we were waiting for a table, there's this guy standing around that looks really familiar, and the instant i whisper to tannis that i think he goes to penn, he walks to us and asks "is one of you in strictly funk?" WHOA! pretty sweet. turns out i recognize him from all my comm classes. then when we finally get a table, we walk into the cafe and sitting there at a table by the door are anthony, dan and quoc, all funk alumni who are currently living in san francisco. tannis and i were very taken aback and in a state of shock through the rest of our lunch. who knew so many penn people would be at toast at the same time. after an afternoon of catching up with tannis, i went to a tango technique class in west LA.. i had no idea that a simple walk could be so technical and intricate. tannis and i made dinner at her place in marina del rey. it was so nice to be back since i lived there all last summer. post-meal i went to a house party with her and a bunch of her high school friends in beverly hills. not only did i not know anyone, but it was a pool party (and i was sans bathing suit) so i got to sit awkwardly at the edge of the pool for the whole of it. it wasn't bad though - it just wasn't great either.
sunday morning, tannis made me breakfast ;) and then we went to a salon where i got a manicure. the old white man before me tipped the asian lady big (i didn't see how much, but there was more than one bill, and that bill was a $20), so i'm thinking someone got a some happy happy in the back room. (= maybe i'm just sick-minded. my afternoon was spent at zuma beach with my favorite interns from dwa (steph, andy, felipe, allison, jade). i definitely got a little sun-burnt, but it's good. i haven't had this much color in over 2 years. i headed to the santa monica promenade around six and spent the next four hours tango'ing at the weekly milonga there. my body is sore (like whoa) from all the dancing i did this week. it's fantastic.
03 August 2007
dwa v. penndesign ?
it is just about 6pm on the friday of the tenth week of my internship at dreamworks animation.
two weeks to go!
i have absolutely loved working here. the environment is one that i never quite imagined possible: laid-back, fun, interesting, productive, creative. it's beautiful - and i'm not just talking about the physical campus. while i don't love what i'm doing (how can i when i don't even know what i want to do with my life?), i do genuinely enjoy it. and i can honestly say that i like most of the people i have come into contact with here - which is rare for me. i would definitely love working at DWA next year - but i'm trying not to think about it; i don't want to get my hopes up or anything. and who knows.. a lot can change in a year i guess.
one thing i've found particularly interesting on a personal level is my current social environment. i'm surrounded by engineers, which is strange for me. at school, i can safely say that a large majority of my friends and acquaintances for the past couple years has consisted of architects. ivy-league full-of-bullshit 'algorithmic'-emergent-rigorous-non-linear-design visual-masturbation architects. don't get me wrong - i find what they are doing fascinating and i love many of them. but they really are full of bullshit when they talk about what they're doing.. it's not that i didn't know this before, but being around people who actually know what they're talking about (and actually try to understand what they don't), people who aren't competetive or elitist, has definitely made me more aware of it. it's been different, ...refreshing.
theodore came to visit a couple weeks ago and met the hengesbachs (one pair of my surrogates from high school). they loved him of course. and little kaley thinks my first name is 'jennpan'. we then drove to vegas to meet up with theodore's family. it hasn't ceased to amaze me how different they are from my own - everything from what qualities they value in an individual to their general family dynamic (perhaps i will elaborate on this another time). i can't wait to visit them in chicago.
and finally, tango has been going really well. i've finally managed to get myself to stop thinking and to just, well, follow. i really love it, and i'm looking forward to finding some good milongas in philadelphia.
two weeks to go!
i have absolutely loved working here. the environment is one that i never quite imagined possible: laid-back, fun, interesting, productive, creative. it's beautiful - and i'm not just talking about the physical campus. while i don't love what i'm doing (how can i when i don't even know what i want to do with my life?), i do genuinely enjoy it. and i can honestly say that i like most of the people i have come into contact with here - which is rare for me. i would definitely love working at DWA next year - but i'm trying not to think about it; i don't want to get my hopes up or anything. and who knows.. a lot can change in a year i guess.
one thing i've found particularly interesting on a personal level is my current social environment. i'm surrounded by engineers, which is strange for me. at school, i can safely say that a large majority of my friends and acquaintances for the past couple years has consisted of architects. ivy-league full-of-bullshit 'algorithmic'-emergent-rigorous-non-linear-design visual-masturbation architects. don't get me wrong - i find what they are doing fascinating and i love many of them. but they really are full of bullshit when they talk about what they're doing.. it's not that i didn't know this before, but being around people who actually know what they're talking about (and actually try to understand what they don't), people who aren't competetive or elitist, has definitely made me more aware of it. it's been different, ...refreshing.
theodore came to visit a couple weeks ago and met the hengesbachs (one pair of my surrogates from high school). they loved him of course. and little kaley thinks my first name is 'jennpan'. we then drove to vegas to meet up with theodore's family. it hasn't ceased to amaze me how different they are from my own - everything from what qualities they value in an individual to their general family dynamic (perhaps i will elaborate on this another time). i can't wait to visit them in chicago.
and finally, tango has been going really well. i've finally managed to get myself to stop thinking and to just, well, follow. i really love it, and i'm looking forward to finding some good milongas in philadelphia.
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